So I Married an Axe Murderer is a 1993 American romantic black comedy film, directed by Thomas Schlamme, and starring Mike Myers and Nancy Travis. Myers plays Charlie MacKenzie, a man afraid of commitment until he meets Harriet (Travis), who works at a butcher shop, and who may be a serial killer. Myers also plays Stuart, Charlie's father. The film received a mixed reception from critics and did not fare well at the box office, grossing $27 million, but it has gained a cult following in the years since its release. A miniseries called The Pentaverate, created by Myers and based on the in-universe conspiracy theories mentioned in this film, was released in May 2022 on Netflix.

Plot

Charlie MacKenzie is a popular local beat poet living in San Francisco who makes his frequent break-ups the subject of his poems. His best friend Tony, a recently promoted police detective, believes that Charlie is afraid of commitment and will identify (or invent) any reason to break up with someone.

While purchasing a Haggis for his Scottish-born parents, Stuart and May, he encounters a butcher named Harriet, and is attracted to her. During his visit with his family, Charlie and May discuss his most recent break-up, and May brings up a tabloid article about a bride known as "Mrs. X", who kills her husbands on their honeymoons using an axe.

Charlie goes back to the butcher shop and offers to help Harriet. The two find common bonds and start to date. After staying at her place one night, Charlie meets Harriet's eccentric sister, Rose, who warns Charlie to be careful. He learns Harriet used to live in Atlantic City, was involved with a trainer in Russian martial arts, and screams for someone named Ralph in her sleep. Charlie arranges a dinner with her to meet his parents, who say she is their favourite of all his partners. Charlie reads the article about Mrs. X, which identifies two of her victims as a martial arts expert and a man named Ralph.

Charlie becomes fearful and asks Tony to investigate Harriet and the Mrs. X story. Tony reveals that the husbands of Mrs. X were all reported missing alongside their wives, assuring that Harriet is unlikely to be Mrs. X. Charlie remains on edge, and after a few more troubled dates, breaks up with her. Tony reports that a killer in the Mrs. X story has confessed. Relieved, Charlie apologizes to Harriet by reciting one of his beat poems to her from her rooftop. They make up, and Harriet explains away some of her history, such as Ralph being the name of a woman she knows.

At his parents' wedding anniversary Charlie proposes to Harriet. She accepts after some hesitation. Following the wedding ceremony, they embark on a honeymoon to a secluded mountain hotel. After they depart, Tony learns that the confessed killer is actually a compulsive liar. He sends a photo of Harriet to the known associates of the missing husbands, and all identify her as their friends' wife. With phone lines to the hotel down due to a storm, Tony charters a plane. Once he lands, he calls Charlie locally and warns him that Harriet really is Mrs. X, but the hotel phone line is knocked out and power is lost.

Charlie panics and tries to stay away from Harriet without letting her know what he knows, but the hotel staff force him into the honeymoon suite for their first night together. After locking Harriet in the closet, Charlie discovers a letter, purportedly written by him, explaining his absence to Harriet. Rose appears wielding an axe and reveals herself as the Mrs. X killer. She feels that Harriet's husbands are taking her sister from her, motivating her to kill them on their honeymoon night and leave letters behind claiming to be from them, leading Harriet to believe that each husband abandoned her. Charlie flees from Rose.

Tony leads the police into the hotel and arrests Harriet, still believing her to be the murderer. Charlie, having been chased to the hotel roof by Rose, gets Tony's attention as they take Harriet away. While the police make their way up to the roof, Rose swings the axe at Charlie and is thrown off the building. Tony catches her, and she is arrested and taken away. Charlie and Harriet resume their lives as a happy couple.

Cast

Production

The genesis of the film originated in 1987, when producer Robert N. Fried, who had recently left Orion Pictures to set up on his own, met with writer Robbie Fox to discuss story ideas. They ended up talking about the problems they had with women and agreed that "most women appeared to be out to destroy us!" Fried and co-producer Cary Woods formed their own production company in 1992. So I Married An Axe Murderer was their first film, Fox wrote the screenplay in 1987. In the original version, Charlie was Jewish and, according to Fried, it was "initially conceived as being more about paranoia than commitment". Before Myers was asked, Woody Allen considered playing Charlie. Chevy Chase, Albert Brooks, and Martin Short also considered the role but did not like the character.

Locations

Set in San Francisco, California, the film features familiar sights and neighborhoods of the Golden State metropolis, including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Palace of Fine Arts and Alcatraz.

The restaurant where Charlie and Harriet double-date with Tony and Susan is the Fog City Diner, which closed its doors in 2013. The butcher shop used for "Meats of the World" was Prudente Meats on Grant Avenue, in the North Beach Section of San Francisco.

The scene where Charlie breaks up with Harriet was set in Alamo Square, with the San Francisco skyline in the background.

The final scenes are set at Dunsmuir House in the East Oakland foothills. Additional special effects and matte paintings created the illusion that the location was secluded among mountains. and an epilogue which revealed that Charlie and Harriet have a son named Stuart, after Charlie's father.

Music

Soundtrack

  1. Boo Radleys - "There She Goes" 2:18
  2. Toad the Wet Sprocket - "Brother" 4:04
  3. Soul Asylum - "The Break" 2:46
  4. Chris Whitley - "Starve To Death" 3:14
  5. Big Audio Dynamite II - "Rush" (New York City Club Version) 3:55
  6. Mike Myers - "This Poem Sucks" 2:04
  7. Ned's Atomic Dustbin - "Saturday Night" 3:08
  8. The Darling Buds - "Long Day In The Universe" 4:08
  9. The Spin Doctors - "Two Princes" 4:15
  10. Suede - "My Insatiable One" 2:57
  11. Sun-60 - "Maybe Baby" 3:43
  12. The La's - "There She Goes" 2:42

Other music in the film

  • The Bay City Rollers - "Saturday Night"
  • Ron Gonnella - "A Touch of Gaelic"
  • Rod Stewart - "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (sung by Mike Myers as Stuart MacKenzie)
  • The Platters - "Only You" (sung by Nancy Travis)

Score

The film's original score was composed and conducted by Bruce Broughton. Due to the film's emphasis on popular music, several of Broughton's cues were replaced with existing songs, such as his main title music being supplanted by The Boo Radleys' version of "There She Goes," and "Butcher Shop Montage" having Big Audio Dynamite's "Rush" substituted.

Broughton appreciated the support of music supervisor Danny Bramson and director Thomas Schlamme, stating "I was given the opportunity to make my case, and I didn't get slighted... But the way it ended up was the way it ended up. It was done with a lot of creative latitude, and creative permission and confidence. I can't complain about the way it came out."

Intrada Records released an album of his music on November 25, 2013, featuring the complete score, plus alternates and original versions of cues.

Total Time: 52:56

Release

So I Married an Axe Murderer was first shown at a screening to benefit the local San Francisco film office, on July 27, 1993, at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater. It had its official world premiere at the Galaxy Theater in Hollywood on July 28, with Myers, Travis, and LaPaglia in attendance. It grossed an estimated $15 million internationally for a worldwide total of $27 million. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 54 out of 100 based on 30 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B" on scale of "A" to "F."

Roger Ebert, in his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, described the film as "a mediocre movie with a good one trapped inside, wildly signaling to be set free," believing the scenes focused on Charlie's friends and family were far superior to the axe-murder plot. He rated it two and a half stars out of four. Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Travers felt that "Juggling mirth, romance and murder requires a deft touch—think of Hitchcock's Trouble with Harry. Axe is a blunt instrument." Entertainment Weeklys reviewer gave the film a "C−" and said, "In some perverse way, So I Married an Axe Murderer seems to be asking us to laugh at how not-funny it is."

In a review for The Washington Post, Hal Hinson had a mixed reaction to Myers' performance, writing "Everything he does is charmingly lightweight and disposable and reasonably impossible to resist. And in the end, because the character is so easily within reach for him, you may come away feeling a little cheated, as if you hadn't quite seen a movie at all." However, Janet Maslin's review in The New York Times said that it came as "a welcome surprise that So I Married an Axe Murderer, which might have been nothing more than a by-the-numbers star vehicle, surrounds Mr. Myers with amusing cameos and gives him a chance to do more than just coast."

In his review for the San Francisco Chronicle, Edward Guthmann called the film a "trifle, at best—but it's so full of good spirits, and so rich with talented actors having a marvelous time, that its flaws tend to wash away."

Home media

It was released on VHS and Laserdisc by Columbia TriStar Home Video on March 9, 1994. A DVD of the film was released in June 1999. The DVD artwork differed from the original film poster, which had Harriet holding an axe behind her back.

Legacy

The Pentaverate

On April 17, 2019, it was announced that Netflix had picked up a then untitled six-episode miniseries from Myers where he will star as multiple characters. In June 2021, it was announced that the miniseries will be titled The Pentaverate, based on the film's conspiracy theories as discussed by Stuart and Tony as they peruse the Weekly World News. The series would feature Ken Jeong, Keegan-Michael Key, Mazar, Jennifer Saunders, and Lydia West, with Jeremy Irons serving as the narrator. Myers, Tim Kirkby, John Lyons, Tony Hernandez, Lilly Burns, and Jason Weinberg will serve as executive producers with the latter three through Jax Media.

References

  • Locations where the film was shot